*received for free from netgalley for honest review* 3.5, i do not think i have ever read a book like this but it was pretty good still, kinda weird but loved the fiction with foot notes idea lol

3 stars

A collection of darkly amusing short stories. This writer does a good job of capturing the rural/small town feel & dynamics of the US South.

[What I liked:]

•I really liked “Leon and his Band of Merry Men”, and the one about frog gigging. Neither ended the way I expected, & the characterizations were spot on.

•The prose and dialogue are sharp, and really capture the scene & setting & characters in a brief space. This writer definitely has a talent for short fiction, & for capturing life in the rural South.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•Some of the stories didn’t make as much sense to me, like the one about the castle. A few stories were almost too short, like I wasn’t sure what the focus was supposed to be.

CW: racism, sexism

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

I received a free audiobook from NetGalley and Books Forward Audiobooks in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Lying and Making a Living is a collection of shocking and often jarring short stories. From a presidential debate gone wrong to a dog/man in a dream state getting hit by a dump truck, these stories are unique offer a wide variety of social commentary. Some of the stories left me cringing, while others had me laughing, and I particularly enjoyed the footnotes.

All that being said, I didn't like this short story collection. It seems well-received, so this is likely a case of me being from the wrong audience or the audiobook formatting not working for me. Dunlap was definitely trying to push the envelope and make the reader feel discomfort, but that discomfort was sustained for nearly the entire collection which made it difficult for me to immerse myself in the stories but still intrigued enough to finish listening. I also found some of the content quite triggering, so a list of content warnings probably would have deterred me altogether.

1.5 stars, rounded up.

CW: Sexual violence, animal death/cruelty, toxic relationship, blood, bullying, child abuse, death, gore, gun violence, mass shooting, hate crime, misogyny, racial slurs, medical content

Though I am usually a fan of short stories, I couldn’t really connect with this and unfortunately DNF’d. I’m not sure if it was just my disconnect, but I found it hard to wrap my head around what was happening, though that might be the footnotes which I couldn’t really distinguish. Each story was a bit controversial for the shock factor which isn’t my cup of tea. I do like that the pieces were fairly short and quick, and the narrator was pleasant to listen to as well. This kind of reminds me of Sedaris’s essays so readers who like that might like this, just not for me.

Thank you NetGalley for my copy.

I tried. I did. DNF at 20%. This collection of short stories is not for me. I will not write a public review anywhere else, as I gave up so soon after starting.

Each short story intends to shock the reader. The author uses controversial themes and taboos to do that. But unfortunately, I couldn’t see anything beyond that. I want more from the books I read, not just controversy.

Footnotes are interesting, but in audiobook form are a bit annoying.

Thanks to Books Fluent for the ARC and the opportunity to listen to this! All opinions are my own.

This was a fantastic collection of short stories. Each one was better than the last. I loved the quality of the stories and the fact that each of these stories could me make into its on 5 star book. I loved the footnotes they were so useful and gave the book an extra depth to it. I love the fact that each story had that one shocking moment that you don't see coming. Each story includes something controversial and is dealt with in extraordinary ways. There was never a dull moment in the entire book. I listened to the audio version of this book. I found the narrator added so much to else stories adding a great sense of atmosphere.  He was perfect for this collection. I must note that I wasn't overly impressed with the cover though. However the title alone drew me into wanting to read this book. The title was so fitting to this book it was so clever. I will definitely be keeping my eye open for more titles by this author.
I would like to thank the author and publishers for bringing us such an amazing and very cleverly wrote collection of short storys really bring them to life. I have left the above review under ladyreading365 26/11/21 on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo and amazon UK. Also on my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/lying-and-making-a-living-by-william-dunlap-books-fluent-5-stars

This was definitely an interesting collection of short stories. I understand Dunlap's thing is to be shocking. However, I feel like while there were definitely some surprising twists this just wasn't my cup of tea. I found most of the shocking elements to be one note and he seemed to use vulgarity as the main mechanism for shock factor. Overall the writing was good and I appreciated the quick pace of the book. I also really enjoyed the audiobook's narrator.

It's hard to do this book justice in a few words. William Dunlap has assembled a stunning collection of short stories here, a wide range of subjects and lengths. I laughed out loud, was mildly (and pleasantly) shocked a few times, and overall was so impressed by this work. I thought, with all the shorter pieces, it was interesting to include the longer work towards the end. It gives you the chance to really settle in and appreciate Dunlap's abilities.

It's raw, crass, fresh, delightful... thoroughly engaging.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lying and Making a Living is a collection of short stories, each taking the reader on a head scratching journey. The topics cover a wide range of bizarre ideas, including (and a bit repulsively) beastiality.

I’m a fan of short stories in general, but this one was a bit of a head scratcher for me. I liken Dunlap to Sedaris, but in a much more twisted and taboo sense. Each story held me in a shocked like stance with my nose scrunched up, but I definitely was drawn in.

I listened to this as an audiobook and thought that the narrator did an excellent job performing this collection, and his talent kept me hooked in.

While this book wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, I appreciate it for its dark concepts that others might find enthralling. The excellent narration is bumping this book to a weak 4 stars.

Dunlap's stories are irreverent, unabashed, and hilarious. They never failed to surprise and sometimes even shock. Will definitely be looking out for more of his works.

This book has many short stories. Many are controversial, pushing limits with talk of sex, gender, religion and anything in between to shock the audience. We’re all interested in these things but we don’t generally write about them quite like this.
This author doesn’t hold back and writes well. This definitely isn’t for everyone and a lot of it is shocking in a laughable way. It’s not for the faint of heart and I liked all the foot notes.
I decided to listen to this book on audio and the narrator was Eric Altheide and was a perfect fit for this. It’s 4 hours and 9 minutes long.
Thanks Books Fluent via Netgalley.

I really enjoyed this book. The stories are as varied in length as they are in subject matter. This is one I'll revisit often. There's something for everyone and every mood. Definitely going to find other titles by this author.